The prior art in cable splicing apparatus is relatively old, however, most structures rely on a crimping principal and relatively complex and cumbersome installation techniques. Others, primarily concerned with single conductors employ a maze type securing feature wherein the cable is locked into position by multiple complex turns through appropriate pathways. Examples of prior art types splicing constructions for multiconductor cables are represented by U.S. Pat. No. 2,896,186 and 3,786,173.
However, these last mentioned forms of cable splices are totally impractical for heavy duty, industrial multiconductors cables, such as used in the mining industry for example. For this reason, most present commercial splicing applications for this type of cable rely on a crimping and soldering techniques as the only practical and useful manner of repairing damaged cables.
This is emphasized by the fact that the crimping technique is not totally satisfactory for several reasons. Firstly, the conductors are inherently weakened at the point of the crimp by the crushing action which also creates heat build-up areas in the conductor. This often leads to subsequent failure of the splice in a rather short time. Secondly, the repair and installation procedure is time-consuming and costly. Thirdly, the present crimping type splice requires the removal of the entire cable from the industrial site which lengthens down time and further increases the overall-costs and dissatisfaction with the prior art techniques.
However, prior to the present invention, the use of the other means to adequately secure the cable and insure appropriate conductor connection in a simple and satisfactory design represents a long-standing unsolved problem in the commercial cable splicing art.